The invention discloses unicast forwarding of adaptive-routing notifications. A method for communication includes, in a first network switch that is part of a communication network having a topology, detecting a compromised ability to forward a flow of packets originating from a source endpoint to a destination endpoint. In response to detecting the compromised ability, the first network switch identifies, based on the topology, a second network switch that lies on a current route of the flow, and also lies on one or more alternative routes from the source endpoint to the destination endpoint that do not traverse the first network switch. A notification, which is addressed individually to the second network switch and requests the second network switch to reroute the flow, is sent from the first network switch.